My kitchen has been giving me food for thought recently. To
cut costs, battle the bulge, keep the commandment of bal
tashchis and locate some counter space in the kitchen,
I've decided to trim the fat off my food budget.
But how? I love to eat, hate to cook, enjoy entertaining and
am certain that even if I make enough food for an entire
yeshiva, there won't be enough for my four guests. This
results in waste, heavy expenditures and extra calories. This
is all the consequence of bad habits, bad planning and too
many cravings.
So let's take stock. How much food do I really need? Whatever
I don't throw out. If we throw out food on a regular basis,
we've bought too much. Food that is non- perishable or can be
frozen or stored for long periods of time even after it's
been opened is not a problem. Those are the foods to buy.
I've started buying daily. Fruit, vegetables, milk
products (milk can be frozen) should be bought daily in small
amounts, for your household needs. Although it takes extra
time to buy these things each day, it ends up being cheaper,
tastier, healthier.
Plan meals. Maybe have different people in the family
take turns planning meals. There's less waste if people are
actually willing to eat what you've made. Make food that can
be recycled. Chicken soup can become chicken fricassee and
then evolve into chicken salad. Tuna salad can metamorphose
into tuna patties or casserole. Bread can become croutons or
bread crumbs or French toast.
Make things from scratch (note to myself: ignore). A
baguette with tomato sauce and melted cheese is a cheaper
alternative to pizza. Anything you make from scratch is
healthier, tastier, fresher.
Create a neighorhood cooking club. I have a neighbor
who bakes challas that are so delicious that my son boycotts
the store-bought ones. I started buying them from her. I have
another neighbor whose specialty is salad and I occasionally
commission her to toss a few greens my way. If a few women
get together, each making a large amount of her specialty
dish, everyone is well fed and happy at a fraction of the
cost.
Buy in bulk. Comparison shop and get the cheaper
brands, unless you won't eat them. Take note of your favorite
foods. Buy what you eat. Don't buy something with a
plan in mind to eat it. I have a jar of baby corn sitting in
my cupboard since before Pesach. I plan to eat it, of course.
Soon.
When you have regular guests, keep tabs on how much they
eat, not obtrusively, of course. If we make a mental note
of how much and what our guests eat, we'll be able to better
calculate how much we need to buy and make and they'll feel
that their tastes have been catered to.
Before you shop, take stock. I've often bought some
product, only to return home to find its relative already
waiting on the shelf or in the fridge to have a reunion. If
you can't see what's in your fridge, don't buy anything else.
Don't buy food because it's on sale. If you eat it, wait till
it's on sale to buy it. Try to be smarter than the
manufacturers. Stock up on holiday items before they raise
the prices [and pretend to lower them for competition's
sake]. You can buy candy a month before Purim. It'll still be
good.
Develop a taste for cheap food. Ice cubes are an
alternative to popsicles. Water is an alternative to soda.
Concentrate is cheaper than juice and petel syrup is
cheaper than coke. You follow.
Of course, the mitzva of hospitality should not be
compromised. We need always to have enough food around should
guests drop in. But how many guests drop in? Even Avrohom
Ovinu didn't start cooking until the angels showed up. On
that hot day, he wasn't expecting anyone.
Have double- and triple-purpose foods. For example,
potato chips are good to pack as a snack for school, good to
serve to guests, and are non- perishable. Likewise apples,
carrot sticks and a dozen other items. Other multi-purpose
foods are olives, pickles and rice cakes.
If you still have leftover food after all your calculations,
donate it to a soup kitchen or a food gemach. Then at
least it won't go to waste.
None of the above applies to Shabbos and Yom Tov, when Hashem
foots the bill, but the catch is you can't buy more than what
you need for Shabbos and chag.
Keeping your pantry in balance is almost as difficult as
balancing your diet but the dividends can be delicious.
